The Virtual Dreamer
by Trikninja
Summary: Damon Okoyl, a new student at Kadic academy with no friends or parents, no past, but a very interesting future,tied to a seemingly useless piece of cloth...UPDATED TO CHAPTER 7 WOO.
1. A New Friend

Code: Lyoko

The virtual dreamer.

The sun rose normally as it did each day over the city Odd, Ulrich and Jeremy all turned over and groaned in their dorms, Yumi doing the same in her bedroom, each wanting to continue sleeping. But elsewhere, inside the virtual world of Lyoko, something completely new was happening.

XANA's monsters were patrolling and attacking a virtualised person within Lyoko, but this time it was not Aelita, there was a new presence inside Lyoko. Two hornet robots were chasing a hooded figure, dressed in all black, as he ran and tried to escape from them. Holding a long grey staff the figure jumped from one rock to another within the Mountain sector, looking for a way to escape his pursuers. With a powerful kick he back flipped off of a rock, destroying one of the robotic monsters with a swing of his staff. Racing away from the second hornet the figure took a laser beam to the back of his right leg. Limping away the figure threw his staff with all his might at the hornet, slamming into the bulls-eye like mark of XANA's servant. Exhausted, the figure collapsed onto the rocky ground of the mountain sector, and de-virtualised, returning to where he came.

Elsewhere Aelita, recuperating in a tower, sensed a large surge of energy and jumped up with a start. Rushing frantically she sent a message to Jeremie, her face appearing on his computer screen, crying his name in despair and alarm.

"Jeremie! Jeremie! Wake up! Please! Are you there! I sensed a large surge of energy; I think XANA has woken up again! The surge was much more powerful then normal!"

Jeremie groaned and rolled over in bed, waving a hand toward his computer screen.

"Uuuuhhhn…..five more minutes…" Jeremie muttered, drifting off to sleep once more.

"Jeremie! Jeremie!" Aelita cried, but Jeremie had fallen asleep once more. Resolving to find out what the surge of energy was, Aelita set off to the mountain sector.

The school bell rang to signal the beginning of the day, the students filed into the classrooms of Kadic College and sat in their usual places. As the lesson began Principal Delmas entered and had a few words with the science teacher. Ulrich and the others were all whispering to each other.

"Any sign of XANA yet Jeremie?" Ulrich asked.

"Negative," Jeremie replied, "XANA hasn't made any moves yet. I didn't get a chance to talk to Aelita this morning though, I woke up too late."

"Probably shouldn't stay up all night talking to her Jeremie, _she_ doesn't need sleep" Odd pointed out.

Jeremie ignored Odd and went on talking to Ulrich, Ulrich wasn't listening to him; he was trying to listen in on the conversation between the principal and the science teacher. Hearing only the words 'student' and 'scholarship' he gave up and slumped back into his seat. As the headmaster finished his conversation with the teacher he turned to the class.

"Good morning class." Principal Delmas greeted,

"Good morning principal Delmas," the children responded in unison.

" Today we have a new student joining us," the principal continued, " I would like you all to give him a warm welcome and help to make his time at Kadic to be a happy one."

The principal walked towards the door during his speech. As he finished, he laid his hand on the doorknob and opened the door, showing a young boy, brown skinned and wearing glasses that he wore halfway down his nose. He was dressed in blue jeans and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. He also had a grey camouflage patterned bandana tied around his right arm.

"Allow me to introduce your newest classmate, Damon Okoyl." The principal announced, stepping to the side as Damon walked in, "say hello everyone!" the principal said.

"Good morning Damon." The entire class called. The new student raised his hand to his glasses pulled them down a little, looking at the rest of the class over his spectacles, he raised his two fingers together on one hand, in a wave.

"Yo," He answered, "nice to see you."

The principal stood there and had a few more words with the teacher before leaving, Damon walked into the class, as he passed Sissi's desk she tried to catch his eye, but was ignored as Damon walked past. Sissi frowned and nodded to Herve. He nodded back with a grin and as Damon walked by him, he stuck his foot out and tripped Damon up.

"Wooooaaaah!" Damon cried out as he fell, hitting the floor and wincing slightly as his glasses cracked, cutting him on the cheek.

The teacher watched as Damon got back up and gasped slightly when she saw his face was bleeding. Angrily, the teacher asked if someone had tripped him up.

"No…no I fell on my own…" Damon replied, "Tripped over a table leg is all…"

The teacher nodded and resumed the lesson, Damon walked to the back of the class amidst the laughs and giggles of the other students and took the seat behind Odd, he glanced back at him. Damon pulled of his glasses and wiped the small trickle of blood from under his eye. Staring out of the window Damon paid barely any attention to the lesson.

The bell rang to signal the end of the lesson, and it was time for recess. The students all filed out and went their separate ways in the usual fashion. Damon was still new, and had nowhere to go yet, so he sat alone on a bench, leaning his head over the back of it and staring at the sky. Damon sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them there was a dog staring him right between the eyes.

"Aah!" Damon cried out as he jumped off the bench and landed on his backside, when he looked up, he saw the dog was being held by someone. A young boy with a purple patch in his hair.

"Hey," the boy said, " your new aint'cha?"

"Yeah," Damon replied, sitting back on the bench, "names Damon."

"I know," the boy replied, "I was there when you had your little trip,"

"Oh," Damon sighed, " so you saw that eh?"

"The entire class did dude, not such a great start if you know what I mean."

"Yeah yeah I see your point," Damon replied, "its hard enough making friends as it is, so far I don't have any."

"Huh? No friends? So what do you _do_ all day?" Odd asked,

"I train. Damon replied almost instantly.

"Train? Train for what?"

"To be the strongest." Damon told him.

"How ya gonna do that?" Odd asked him, intrigued.

"Well, I study a lot of martial arts, and work out everyday, so I can do loads of stuff."

"Like what, lets see what you can do then" Odd said.

Damon nodded and stood up, pulling the bandana from his arm he tied it around his head, then backed up a little and ran towards to bench he was sitting on, he jumped off of it with one foot and landed on the edge of it, standing on one hand, he then pushed off of the edge of the bench, falling to the other side of it, rolling forward on the ground and kicking himself back onto his feet. Damon stood and turned back to Odd, pulling his bandana off.

"Stuff like _that_." Damon said, re-tying the bandana to his arm.

"Woah!" Odd exclaimed, "That was cool! Wait a second, if you can do that, then how come you let yourself fall over back in class?"

" I didn't wanna show off as soon I came into class, you know? Sometimes its better to keep those things a secret or people will think there's something weird and they'll try to avoid me, it's happened before." Damon replied, sighing.

"Yeah, that's cool," Odd, replied, "well, one of your problems have already gone." Odd said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Damon asked, slightly confused,

"You've just made a new friend." Odd said with a grin, extending his hand, "I'm Odd." Damon stood up, looking at Odds hand, then at him.

"No you seem fine to me, you aren't odd at all." Damon said, Odd laughed.

"Haha no, Odd's my name" he replied,

"Odd huh? That's an…. odd name." Damon said.

"No kidding, well, lets get going," Odd replied. "Everyone's waiting for us."

"Going where?" Damon asked. Odd grabbed his arm and began dragging him away. Damon stumbled a little and followed Odd, "everyone who?"

"Just come on!" Odd told him, dragging him towards a small group of three people talking to each other. Damon could tell what was going to happen and he gulped, wondering what to say to them. Odd dragged Damon over to the people and greeted them.

"Hey everyone, this is Damon, he's the new guy, say hi," Odd said to Damon. Damon, a little shy, looked at each of the people.

"Uh…. Yo." he muttered, looking at each of the people, "nice to meet you." A brightly skinned girl with black hair stepped forward and held her hand out to Damon, which he shook.

"Hi Damon, I'm Yumi. This is Jeremie," she said, pointing towards a shorter boy with glasses and blond hair, "and this is Ulrich." She went on, nodding her head towards a slightly taller boy with brown hair." Damon nodded again and waved at them both. A short silence followed, Damon feeling awkward and not knowing what to say, Yumi started talking again, asking him a question.

"So Damon, do you live off campus or are you boarding here?" Yumi asked,

"I've got a little place where I stay," Damon, replied, "it's off campus."

"Don't you live with your parents Damon?" Jeremie asked, Damon shook his head slightly and shrugged.

"Nope, don't have any." He replied to Jeremie,

"How can you not have any parents?" Ulrich asked,

"Simple, I just don't, I live by myself." Damon replied, staring at the ground.

"So you have no one at all who's even close like family? Then how did you get into this school?" Odd cut in,

" Oh I have someone," Damon said, raising his head to look at them, " the professor, I've known her for as long as I can remember, so I guess she's like a mother to me, she gave me my place to stay and got me into this school."

The others remained silent and looked at each other for a moment, Damon, realising he had said too much, stared at the floor once more and remained silent. After a few moments the bell rang to signal the end of recess, when the day had ended everyone met up as usual, Jeremie left for the factory to continue his research with Aelita, Yumi and Ulrich went off with each other to the park. Odd however, decided to follow Damon without his knowing, finding Damon too suspicious and mysterious for his liking. Odd followed Damon to his home, an apartment building, Damon made his way up the stairs of it, Odd following stealthily behind him, Damon kept on climbing the stairs of the building till he reached the very top, never stopping or looking around. Odd, starting to slow down out of fatigue did his best to keep up with Damon. Damon reached the very top of the stairs and reached into his pocket, pulling out a key and pushing it into a lock he unlocked the door and pushed it open. He stood still for a moment and sighed; pausing at the door he called out.

"Coming in Odd?" he said.

Odd jaw dropped, realising he was caught he walked out into the open, staring at the floor,

"If you wanted to see where I lived why didn't you just say so," Damon asked, "its not that weird a thing to ask, so you coming in or not?"

Odd smiled and nodded, following Damon into the apartment he was greeted by a one room apartment, with a bed in the corner, a sink against the wall, a stand with a TV, stereo and several cds in the corner, and a chair in front of it, with a window facing outwards towards the forests. There was also a stand in the corner, with several cases for what appeared to be weapons.

"Welcome to my place Odd," Damon said, collapsing backwards onto his bed, " take a seat," Odd sat down at the chair in front of the TV and swivelled in the chair to face Damon,

"You really live here all by yourself?" Odd asked Damon,

"Yup." Damon replied, staring up at the ceiling,

"Really? How do you get money, and food?" Odd asked,

"The professor, she brings me money, and I buy my own food and stuff."

"You keep talking about this professor, what's she like?" Odd asked, "She must be really important."

"The professor is like my mother," Damon replied, "she told me that she found me when I was very young, she gave me my name and brought me up for as long as I can remember, I'm too old to stay with her now, so she gave me this place to stay, and got me into Kadic, I still see her a lot, maybe you'll meet her one day."

Odd nodded, "maybe I will, she seems pretty cool," Odd looked over at Damon to see that he had dozed off slightly. Odd laughed a little and took another look around the room, his gaze settling on the weapons stand, standing up and walking slowly over to it, so as not to wake Damon, Odd's gaze rested on a sword scabbard at the very top of the stand.

"Ulrich would love to see this," Odd thought, slowly reaching toward the scabbard, as his fingertips were a few centimetres towards him, his cell phone rang snapping him back to reality.

"What's up Jeremie?" Odd asked, answering the call.

"Emergency Odd," Jeremie answered, "Aelitas sensed some kind of disturbance in Lyoko, some strange new pulsations, it looks like XANA's up to something, and we need you here quick."

"Roger." Odd answered, hanging up, "_sorry Damon, but I gotta go,"_ Odd thought to himself, _"ill see you later,"_ Odd left the small apartment, but forgetting that Damon was asleep, slammed the door slightly, Damon awoke with a start, looking around drowsily. As Odd made his way down the stairs his cell phone rang again.

"Okay Jeremie, I'm on my way, no need to panic, I'm leaving from Damons place right now."

" That's just it Odd, there's no more emergency, according to my scans the disturbance just…vanished." Jeremie replied.

"Vanished?" Odd said, "what do you mean vanished? We better go to Lyoko and take a look at all this."

"Affirmative." Jeremie replied, "get over here soon Odd." Jeremie told him, hanging up, Odd wondered what this new disturbance could be for a few moments, but then shrugged it off, breaking into a dash down the stairs, back in the small apartment, Damon had drifted off to sleep once more…

First off, I know I'm making a big mistake here by leaving my teen titans fan-fic unfinished, but for some reason I've lost all willpower to continue with it at the moment, I don't know why, but consider it on Hiatus for awhile, I have another chapter already, if I can be bothered to submit it I will, but don't bother trying to rush me. I really like this fan-fic so far, but you have probably guessed what the disturbance is, and can probably see the entire story from this one chapter, but whatever, I'm going to write it anyway. Tell me if you like it, peace. Jason


	2. Battle Within Lyoko

The virtual dreamer, Part 2

The sun had already set, Jim was making his patrols through the corridors of Kadic, making sure that the students were locked up and asleep in their rooms. Stopping at his usual place, he pounded on the door of Ulrich and Odd's room.

"ULRICH! ODD!" Jim shouted, slamming his fist into the door, "you two better be asleep! Are you!" Jim cried, slamming the door again, hearing no response he turned around and walked back, "good…you better be," Jim muttered halfway down the corridor, straightening himself up and brushing himself down Jim thought to himself, "_way to go Jim, you got these kids disciplined at last."_

Inside, a pair of organized pillows occupied the two beds normally slept in by Ulrich and Odd. Outside the school, two shadowy figures crept slowly towards the underground tunnel leading to the abandoned factory. Climbing down their usual tunnel Ulrich and Odd grabbed their skateboards and set off underground.

Arriving in their usual fashion they climbed the tunnel leading to outside the factory. Dashing inside the two hitched a ride on the elevator and walked into a large room with the central console where Jeremie sitting and typing away at it.

"We're here Jeremie," Ulrich said walking up behind him and watching the screen as Jeremie typed, "What's the disturbance?"

"That's what we're here to find out Ulrich, you and Odd get down to the scanners and I'll begin Virtualization."

"Sheeesh, you could at least say hello you know..." Odd replied, walking off slouching slightly and yawning.

Jeremie ignored Odd's comment and continued his work on the central console, clicking a button on the computer so Aelita's face appeared on screen.

"Hello Jeremie," Aelita said, smiling,

"Hey Aelita, Odd and Ulrich are on their way to Lyoko right now. Where did you say that disturbance was?" Jeremie asked

"It was in the mountain sector Jeremie. I'm there right now checking things out." Aelita replied.

"Roger Aelita, inputting co-ordinates now," Jeremie said. Ulrich and Odd stepped into the scanners, preparing themselves for anything they might find. "Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Odd, begin Virtualization." The scanners hummed to life and glowed brightly, Odd and Ulrich closed their eyes as the machine slowly converted them into virtual data. Soon enough the computer had dropped the two into the mountain sector of Lyoko in their usual attire. 

"Virtualization complete, welcome back to Lyoko guys, Aelita's waiting for you up ahead."

The two virtual warriors nodded and ran forward, looking from side to side for any sign of disturbance. As they reached the edge of a short cliff they dove from it, flipping and landing on their feet. After looking up from their jump they were greeted by a pink haired figure.

"Hey Aelita," Ulrich said, "Any sign of this disturbance?" Aelita shook her head slowly and replied,

"No Ulrich, but I'm very worried about this. I've never felt this kind of disturbance before...where's Yumi?"

"We decided to let her sleep; Odd and I can handle this." Ulrich replied

"Guys, Over here!" Odd called. Ulrich and Aelita ran over to where Odd was standing, "What's this?" Odd asked, pointing at something lying on the ground. Crouching on the ground to get a closer look, but being careful not to touch it yet, the three virtual warriors saw a long grey staff lying flat on the ground. Aelita reached out slowly to touch to it.

"Wait Aelita, don't touch it!" Jeremie's voice cried, "We don't know what that thing is, it could be dangerous…"

"I don't think so Jeremie…just looks like a stick…"Odd said, reaching towards it to pick it up, the second Odds hand touched the staff Aelita gasped and placed her hand on Ulrich's shoulder,

"The disturbance, it's back, I can feel it!" she cried. No sooner after she had finished that sentence, Jeremie's voice boomed out for all of them to hear.

"Heads up everyone, there's something heading your way fast, really fast!"

Ulrich drew his sword and Odd placed his hand on his glove, preparing an arrow to fire, they stood on either side of Aelita, ready to protect her from anything that might come. Odd had picked up the staff and held it with his tail, ready to swing it if necessary.

"Ulrich look out!" Odd shouted, seeing a black figure speeding towards Ulrich at top speed.

"Huh?" Ulrich replied, looking around, catching the figure in the corner of his eye he turned and prepared to defend himself. Speeding closer by the second the figure finally reached Ulrich, instead of attacking Ulrich, the figure dashed straight past him. Odd has his back turned defending the other side, but turned just in time to see the figure leap towards him, dealing a powerful kick

"You shouldn't touch things that aren't _yours!" _the figure said, and as he said the word yours the kick connected with Odds head, sending Odd flying backwards, skipping against the floor, bouncing off a few times and skidding to a halt with the staff flying from his tail and landing on the ground in front of him. Odd looked up from the ground, rising slowly, and looked at the figure that has just attacked him. The figure was dressed in baggy black cargo pants and a white t-shirt with a black vest on top. The figure had a grey camouflage patterned bandana tied around his arm, and kept his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. Walking over to the staff that Odd had dropped after being kicked the figure raised his foot and stomped on the end of staff, flipping it into the air and catching it. Odd staggered to his feet.

"Odd what happened?" Jeremie asked, "You just lost _thirty_ life points"

"We got company Jeremie..." Ulrich told him, standing between the figure and odd, holding his sword ready to attack. Dashing towards the figure with his sword raised Ulrich took a swing at the figure, which the figure dodged. He ducked under the sword, spun around, and punched Ulrich in the back of his head. Ulrich stumbled forward and swung his sword in a full circle, turning his body with it and aiming to take off the figures head. Leaning back just in the time the sword swished past the mystery fighter, leaving a cut across his cheek. A small trickle of blood flowed from the figures cheek.

"What? He's bleeding? No one can bleed in Lyoko, who _is _this guy" Jeremie said, shocked and slightly panicked. The figure heard this and replied to what he heard.

"I am Lyoko's Nomad, and this place is now my domain. Leave and no harm shall come to you. Stay if you wish, but you must prove your might and defeat me in battle."

"Defeat you in battle?" Odd said, "How 'bout we just take you down." Jumping into the air and firing an arrow at the figure, "Laser arrow!" The figure back flipped out of the way, Ulrich had already gotten into position and swung with his sword, the figure didn't have enough time to dodge this time, but parried the attack with his staff instead.

"Not bad, it seems I will have to actually use some effort," the figure muttered. Stepping backwards and preparing to attack. Biting down on one end of the bandana tied around his arm and holding the other end with his hand, he pulled on it, tightening it and leaning his head from side to side, cracking his neck. Ulrich and Odd stood side-by-side, ready for battle.

"I'll take him on first," Odd muttered to Ulrich,

"Hmm." Ulrich grunted, nodding and keeping his eyes fixed on the Nomad. Odd dashed forward towards the Nomad. The Nomad's expression remained solid and he swung his staff heavily towards Odd, muttering the word, "pathetic…"

At the very last moment before the staff hit Odd, he dodged underneath the staff. Odd was too far from the figure to punch or kick the Nomad, so instead he dashed past the attacker. Odd used his tail to grab the attackers foot and continued running, holding onto to it, the Nomad lifted his leg behind him and tried to keep his balance, Odd pulled hard on the Nomads foot and the nomad tried to pull it away. Suddenly Odd released the nomad's foot and the nomad lost balance, falling over onto his back. Ulrich charged forward with his sword, leaping into the air and aiming to skewer the Nomads head with it.

"Impact!" Ulrich yelled, inching closer by the second. The figure managed to move his head to the side as the razor sharp virtual blade jammed into the ground literally millimeters from his cheek. The nomad rolled to the side and rose again, but didn't see Odd standing behind him with his hand placed on his glove ready to attack.

"Laser Arrow!" he cried, firing an arrow at the Nomad, the arrow missed his body but cutting against his arm and tearing the bandana around it slightly. The Nomad looked down at the bandana and remained completely silent, shaking slightly out of rage.

"How dare you…You will pay for that…" the Nomad muttered, picking up his staff once more. "You will see me again, but be careful; the Nomad will always be watching you."

"Oh no ya don't!" Odd cried, charging toward the Nomad. Ulrich has risen behind the Nomad and done the same, they were both on a direct crash course to hit the Nomad; at the same time the Nomads body changed to a wire frame for a split second. and then vanished. Odd and Ulrich slammed hard into each other and fell backwards.

"Uhh…Jeremie?" Odd said, staggering to his feet, "I think we found our disturbance."

"Yeah, no kidding Odd," Jeremie replied, "but it doesn't look like that guys up to anything…you guys better come home for now. We'll meet up with Yumi and talk about this tomorrow."

The two virtual warriors de-virtualized and returned to reality, setting a time and a place to meet up the next day. They made their way back to Kadic and snatched what little sleep they could get.

The next day Yumi was shocked to hear what had happened.

"How could you _not_ call me, I could've been there! I could've helped! We could've beat him if I was there!" She complained.

"That's not entirely true Yumi," Jeremie replied, "You may just be the factor that lets us defeat him."

"What are you talking about Jeremie?" Ulrich cut in, "if Odd and I couldn't beat this guy _together_, how's Yumi gonna?"

"This Nomad guy has seen your guy's moves Ulrich." Jeremie replied, "So he knows the way you two fight, but he's never seen Yumi fight before. That can work to our advantage if we plan it correctly. "

"What do we need to plan?" Odd asked, "We rush him all at once and he loses,"

"Yeah, sure Odd, remember what happened the last time you tried that?" Ulrich said, "It went a little bit like this," he continued, answering his own question. Holding up a fist and his open palm apart from each other he continued, "eeeeeeeeeooooo-splat!" Ulrich said, smacking his palm with his fist lightly

"You didn't do much better Impact boy, how the heck did you miss his head after I tripped him up for you!" Odd replied angrily,

"Guys, guys… calm down!" Yumi said, stopping the argument from going any further, "Look here comes Damon, maybe he's got something new to talk about." Yumi continued, watching Damon approach. Approaching with a scowl Damon walked straight through the group, not raising his eyes or saying a word. Odd followed Damon for a few steps and tapped him on the arm.

"Hey Damon, you ok?" Odd asked him. Damon pulled his hand back angrily.

"Don't touch me Odd; I'm in a real bad mood right now." Damon replied, turning away to walk off again. As Damon turned Odd could see a large hole torn through Damon's bandana.

"Hey, what happened to your bandana?" Odd asked, pointing at the tear.

"I have absolutely no idea, that's what, I woke up and put it on my arm, and I saw this massive hole in it." Damon replied, clenching his fist and looking down at the bandana.

"That's weird," Yumi said, walking over and taking a look at Damon's arm, "Mind if I take a look at it Damon?" She asked.

"OK, but be careful, you have no idea what this thing means to me." Damon replied, removing it carefully and handing it to Yumi. Yumi looked closely at the tear, and then back at Damon.

"Do you have any idea what it could've been Damon?" she asked, running her fingertips over the edges of the tear. Damon shook his head slowly and Yumi turned to Jeremie, "What do you think Jeremie?" Jeremie muttered something to himself, but then shook his head.

"Maybe rats did it." Ulrich suggested, stepping forward and taking hold of a corner of the bandana, examining the hole with Yumi. Yumi turned the part of the bandana she was holding upside down to get a better look at it, and as she did her hand touched Ulrich's. Ulrich and Yumi eyes met and they stared into each others eyes for a moment, blushing slightly. Ulrich noticed that everyone else was starting to stare and broke his eye contact with Yumi.

"cough cough So uh….yeah, it could've been a rat Damon" Ulrich said, releasing the bandana.

"I guess so…"Damon replied, "that Bandana is….its all I have."

"What do you mean it's all you have?" Jeremie asked.

"Yeah, I could get you a better one for like 75 cents." Odd cut in.

"No, you don't get it," Damon replied, "The professor gave me that; she said that this bandana is the key to my past and to my life."

"How the heck can it do that?" Odd cut in, "it's a bandana, big deal I've got three back in my room."

"This is no ordinary bandana!" Damon replied angrily, "It's special to me and it's been ruined, I have no idea how and I can't fix it, so I've lost all I have…"

"I might be able to fix it Damon," Yumi said. Damon's eyes opened widely and he stared at the bandana in Yumi's hands.

"You can! How!" He asked excitedly.

"I can ask my mom to sew it back up for you." Yumi replied.

"Will you, please?" Damon asked, "I've had that bandana for as long as I can remember, it's always been there with me…"

"Don't worry Damon, I'll have her fix it up and I'll give it back to you in a couple of days okay?" Yumi replied, carefully folding up the bandana and putting it in her pocket.

"Okay…but be careful…" Damon replied, "I've gotta go for now, there's someone I gotta see."

"Mind if I tag along?" Odd asked.

"Actually Odd, I'd rather go see this person alone," Damon replied, "no offense."

Odd shrugged and watched with the others as Damon walked off into the park….

Ok, id keep going, but…I'm tired, it's like 3:30 am, so MEH, I also don't want to make the chapters too long…... So read this and deal with it! 

Jason.


	3. Love Begins To Bloom?

Enjoy, chapter three is here, and only a few days after chapter 2! I'm getting fast with my updates….nah I'm lying this was really a part of chapter 2 I just ended it earlier so it didn't get too long.

Damon headed away from the others into the park. He looked around to make sure he wasn't being followed this time and hid behind some trees. Peeking through a gap in them, Damon watched the entrance of the park. After a few minutes Sissi entered the park with Herve and Nicolas, Damon watched as Sissi stood talking with them for a few minutes and then left them, walking into the park as the two walked back to the school. Damon watched as Sissi walked through the park slowly sitting at a bench and relaxing against it, sighing softly. Damon leaned a little bit further out to try and get a better view of Sissi. Sissi stood up and walked over to a bench right in front of where Damon was standing to be able to sit in the shade. Damon could not see anything except the Back of Sissi's head now, so he tried leaning out to the side to see her. Damon leaned until he couldn't lean anymore; he kept trying to get a better view of Sissi, leaning too far and falling over, tumbling forward into plain view of Sissi. Damon stood up and brushed himself off, not knowing that Sissi was staring blankly at him, slightly confused. Damon noticed Sissi was staring and scratched the back of his head, grinning embarrassedly.

"Uhh…..hi…." He managed to say, "I'm Damon…" Sissi gathered her thoughts and stood up, frowning slightly.

"Hmph, I know who you are, you're the loser who tripped walking to a chair. Whatsa matter something wrong with your feet? " She said,

"Uh no…there's nothing wrong with my feet, I was kinda tripped by that guy you were talking to…" Damon replied.

"Just _what_ are you accusing my friends of huh?" Sissi asked angrily, interested in seeing Damons response.

"Uh nothing…sorry…" Damon replied softly, staring at his feet, Sissi giggled slightly under her breath and enjoyed teasing him. 

"So Damon gotta girlfriend?" she asked, sitting back down on the bench and crossing her legs, draping her arms over the back of the bench.

"Nope, not yet…." Damon replied, "But there's uh…someone I think is really beautiful…" "Really?" Sissi replied, her cheeks starting to turn red slightly, "What's her name?" she asked. Damon turned a deeper shade of red and stared at the ground again.

"Uh…she's…she's uh….she's…someone you know…. And…she's…probably not interested in me anyway." Damon replied in a slightly depressing tone.

"What grade is she in?" Sissi asked,

"Same grade as mine. And yours." Damon replied.

"_Oh,"_ Sissi thought, "_so it's not Yumi…"_ Damon looked over Sissi, who was lost in her own thoughts. Looking down at his arm Damon felt slightly bare without his bandana, and placed his hand on his elbow where it was normally tied. Sissi looked over at Damons arm.

"Something wrong with your arm? Didn't you always have something tied around that?" She asked.

"Hm? Yeah, my bandana, its off getting repaired, feels kinda weird without it; I'm so used to having it around my arm." Damon replied, tightening his grip on his arm slightly. Sissi thought to herself for a moment, and then smiled.

"Here, let me help," Sissi said, pulling off the headband that always held her hair back. Damon looked at her confusedly as Sissi reached over and pulled Damon's right arm closer to her. Damon watched as Sissi tied her headband around his elbow, the same way he tied his bandana.

"There, how's that?" Sissi asked, finishing up and patting Damons elbow.

"Much better," Damon said, bending and straightening his arm, "uhm…thanks," he said, looking over at Sissi.

"No problem." Sissi said, smiling. Sissi hair had drifted slowly forward and now a small part of it hung across her face, partially blocking her eye. Without stopping to think Damon reached up and slowly pushed Sissies hair to the side and behind her ear. Sissi's eyes met with Damons and they stared into each others eyes for a moment, blushing slightly. After another few minutes of staring Sissi broke the eye contact, looking down.

"Uh…sorry," Damon said, staring at the floor, "hey," he said, standing up, "we better go, time for class…"

"Oh…yeah you're right," Sissi replied, standing up and shaking her hair out of her face. 

Damon started his walk back to the school, a few seconds later Sissi jogged to his side and began walking next to him, smiling at him. Damon smiled back and walked back with Sissi, pushing his hands into the front pouch of his hooded top. As the two walked back to the school they talked and laughed with each, making jokes and talking about each others lives.

"Oh so you don't live in a dorm?" Sissi asked, walking up the stairs toward the classroom.

"No, I've a got place close to here, I live by myself," Damon replied, "I'll show you it sometime…"

"Don't you live with your parents?" Sissi asked, stopping outside the classroom door.  
"I don't have any parents." Damon replied, 

"Oh...I'm sorry, are you an orphan?" Sissi asked a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Sort of. Come on we better get inside, class is about to start." Damon replied. Sissi nodded and walked to the door. Damon stepped in front of her and opened the door, holding it open for her. "After you." He said with a smile. Sissi smiled back and walked into the classroom, followed by Damon. Damon sat next to Odd and Sissi sat with her usual gang.

"Hey lover boy, saw you with Sissi in the park just now, so that's who wanted to go see." Odd said, grinning.

"You were spying on me _again?_" Damon asked, "You're worse then a sowing circle of old ladies." Damon replied, as the lesson started.

"What's that on your arm?" Odd asked, pointing at Sissi's headband.

"What? This?" Damon asked, looking down at his elbow, "a girl called Sissi gave it to me, do you know her?"

"Uhh yeah, kinda," Odd replied, in a slightly high tone, "why? Do you like her?" Damon opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say anything Odd cut across him singing, "Damons got a girlfriend Damons got a girlfriend! Heeheehee."

Damon elbowed Odd in the ribs, "Odd, man!" Odd laughed a little again and nothing more was said for the rest of the lesson. The day went forward as it normally would, Damons spirits lifted knowing his precious bandana was going to be okay.

Later in the day, Damon ran into the rest of the gang.

"Yo." Whatsup?" He said, walking over to them.

"Hey Damon," Odd said, "We got a science test next, you any good at science I need someone to help me out a little."

"Yeah don't worry about it," Damon replied, "I got ya covered."

the bell rang and class began, no sooner did the students file into class and see the test papers already waiting on their desks did they groan in unison and sit at their desks, Odd taking the seat next to Damon, Jeremie placing himself next to Ulrich.

"begin." the teacher called. And for a few seconds all that could be heard was the ruffling of paper, then complete silence. Ten minutes into the test, Odd hit a question that he couldn't answer, trying to concentrate, Odd found himself daydreaming instead.

"its so warm today I can't believe they want us to do a test like this, on a day like you could just fall asleep at anytime...so warm and comfortable." He thought.

Shaking his head to regain his senses Odd nudged Damon in his ribs and tried to get a glimpse of his paper, noticing that Damons elbow was covering his paper Odd nudged him again. Damons head slumped onto the desk softly and a soft snoring noise could be heard. Damon had fallen asleep! Smacking his face with his palm lightly Odd pushed Damons elbow to the side and lightly pulled Damons test paper. Finding the paper completely filled in and the answer he needed, Odd quickly scribbled it down and pushed Damon's paper back under his elbow. Odd raised his hand and called.

"Uhh, Miss Hertz!" He called with his hand in the air.

"This is a _test_ Odd, be quiet!" Miss Hertz replied,

"Uhh, sorry Miss Hertz! But I've finished my test, and Damon fell asleep!"

The whole class broke into soft laughter when they noticed Damons snoring, Sissi not laughing, but watching his emotionless sleeping face and smiling slightly.

"Be _quiet!_" Ms. Hertz voice called over the class, silencing them. Standing and walking to Damon's desk, she pulled out the paper from under his elbow and took a look at it. Frowning slightly and then opening her eyes slightly shocked, the science teacher leaned down and look at Damon, inspecting his lap and under his chair and desk as if looking for something.

"Something wrong Miss-H?" one of the students asked from the back of the room.

"Just looking for something, never mind get back to your tests now." She replied, making her way back to her desk. _"How is this possible, he answered every question perfectly...its a perfect 100 score, not even I could have done it that well...and he couldn't have cheated, there wasn't a note or textbook in sight..."_

Ms Hertz spent the rest of the lesson thinking about it, as the bell rang to signal the end of the day Odd nudged Damon to wake him so that they could leave.

"Hey, time to go Damon!" Odd called, shaking him lightly by the shoulder. Damon remained completely still and Odd tried again. "Damon? Damooon." He said, shaking him harder, Damons head thumping heavily against the desk. Odds cell phone rang in his pocket and brought it out quickly. Reading the display on the screen Odd knew Jeremie was calling him and answered it.

"What is it Jeremie?" Odd asked,

"I'm already at the factory Odd, logged on to Lyoko and I think there's something here you ought to see, Ulrich and Yumi and already on their way, get here fast."

"Right." Odd replied, hanging up. Grabbing his bag Odd made his way to the door or the classroom, stopping to look back at Damon he called his name loudly one more time to try and wake him. Damon remained completely still and Odd gave up, walking down the hall.

_"He'll be alright, Jim'll be along in awhile and if his yelling doesn't wake Damon up I don't know what will."_ Odd thought to himself.

At the factory Jeremie was talking to Aelita.

"So that's where you felt the disturbance Aelita?" Jeremie asked, Aelita nodded, approaching a cave in the ice sector or the virtual world,

"I can feel it becoming stronger as I approach Jeremie...It's feels like XANA...but its not. It feels. Human." Aelita replied.

"Wait Aelita, it could be a trap, maybe we should wait for the others to get here so I can transfer them." Jeremie warned.

"I'll be okay Jeremie, I have all my lifepoints and there's a tower to hide in nearby." Aelita replied, stopping at the entrance of the cave.

"Okay Aelita...just be careful..." Jeremie asked in a slightly worried tone. Aelita nodded again and entered the cave, after a few minutes of exploring the cave Aelita came across a small pool of what appeared to be blood on the ground.

"Hmm?"What's this?" Aelita asked herself, stooping to the ground and examining the red substance. Aelita examined it more closely and saw that the pool has a trail to it, leading a few feet further. Without saying a word Aelita ran along the trail, following it deeper into the cave. Reaching the end of the cave Aelita found what appeared to be a virtualised body. The body appeared to have blue jeans on it, along with a black hooded sweatshirt; the body wearing the clothes and laying there had short spiky hair, and wore spectacles halfway down his nose, which now appeared to be cracked badly. The brown skinned figure laid there, a pool of blood blossoming from under him, his hand placed on his stomach.

"Help me..." Damon Okoyl asked the pink haired stranger. "Help..."

End of Chapter Three.

(I'm a bastard ain't I:D)


	4. Stranger In A Strange Land

Chapter three:

"Ah...help...Please...…" Damon Okoyl asked the pink haired stranger. Aelita took a small step back, her mouth gaping open. Damon staggered to his feet slowly, leaning against the wall for support.

Coughing up a small amount of blood and spitting it to the side, he tried to explain his situation to the stranger.

"Something…big…like a bee…stung me…help…" he stuttered, losing his footing and falling to the ground, losing consciousness before he even hit it.

"Jeremie!" Aelita cried, "Jeremie!"

Jeremie, who had been absentmindedly tapping away at his Virtualisation program, nearly fell out of his chair as the sound of his love's voice filled his ears. The digitised voice of Aelita was shouting for help, and Jeremie regained his composure, tapping at the keyboard.

"What's wrong Aelita!" Jeremie asked in a panic.

"I don't know…" Aelita replied, her voice shaking, "it looks like a human, but it can't be….he's bleeding…Can you see?"

"I can. You better get away from him, Aelita. It could be a trap; XANA could have set this up," Jeremie warned her.

"But Jeremie…he…I know this person…" Aelita murmured.

"How?" Jeremie replied, "Are you telling me that this thing is connected to your memories somehow?" Aelita nodded,

"Mmhm…I think I'm supposed to take him to a tower…" Aelita said,

"Absolutely not!" Jeremie argued. "What if it _is_ a trap and this thing does something to the towers!" 

"I'm willing to take that chance…Jeremie." Aelita said, crouching over the fallen one.

"Well I'm not, Aelita." Jeremie replied firmly. "Get away from him and wait for the others."

"If I wait, he'll _die_, Jeremie." Aelita replied, equally as firm. Ignoring Jeremie's protests, Aelita dragged Damon's unconscious body towards the tower.

Jeremie resigned himself to assist and remained silent as Aelita and Damon disappeared behind the walls of the tower.

Aelita slowly pulled Damon by his foot onto the Lyoko symbol within the tower. She laid him in the centre dot of the symbol and backed away slowly, feeling drawn to do these things by something inside of her. She squeaked in surprise at a huge flash of light that came from within the tower, pushing her out. Aelita flew back and gently bumped on the icy ground outside the tower. 

"Jeremie!" she called, "Something's happening inside the tower!" Jeremie tapped rapidly at his keyboard, replying to her, angrily thinking that Aelita should have listened to him.

"Okay Aelita, hold on, I'm checking if there's anything wrong with the tower." Tapping a few more keys a picture of the tower came on the screen, perfectly neutral. "This can't be right. According to this scan, the tower is completely normal, Aelita…"

Aelita pushed her hand against the tower to see if she could enter. Her hand pushed through and she followed it inside. She saw Damon's body floating in midair above the Lyoko symbol, his body upright and his arms at his sides, hovering above them slightly. Aelita approached his figure, looking up at him as she walked. Another flash of light appeared, knocking Aelita back. Aelita landed with a bump, still inside the tower this time, and Damon fell to the symbol on his feet, slumping down to the ground in a crouch. Damon stood up slowly and stared at his hands, turning them over slowly and examining them. He then lifted his hooded top and checked his stomach, noticing that the wound had been completely healed. 

"What happened…?" Damon asked, noticing the pink haired stranger nearby, "I'm all better…"

"You were hurt badly in the ice region," Aelita replied, stepping closer, "I brought you here and you were healed..."

"Who are you?" Damon asked, clenching his fists and taking a small step back, "and where am I…?"

"My name is Aelita, and you are Damon…we're inside a tower…" Aelita replied,

"How do you know my name? Get away from me!" Damon shouted, backing away slowly and tripping backwards over his own feet. He went tumbling out of the tower and back into the ice region of Lyoko. Damon rolled gently onto his knees and looked up, his palms against the ground.

"I know this place..." Damon mumbled, as Aelita stepped out of the tower and stood beside him, holding her hands behind her back. "This place...ice-world...this is the place from my dreams...I come here all the time...except my clothes are different now..."

Aelita stepped forward and looked down at Damon. "You know this place?" she asked, intrigued.

"Yes..." Damon replied, nodding and looking from side to side. "I must be dreaming...but how do I wake up..." Damon stood up and walked to a nearby rock. Pulling back and punching it as hard as he could, Damon let out a short cry of pain. "Aaah..!" Damon pulled back, placing his palm over his knuckles and wincing slightly. "Ngh, that...wasn't supposed to happen...pain is supposed to wake someone up, isn't it...does this mean I'm not dreaming...?"

Damon stood slowly, looking around still. Sighing softly and closing his eyes, Damon remained silent. "This place feels weirder then usual...I can't smell anything..."

Aelita stepped forward again, this time standing in front of Damon. "I know the feeling," she said, smiling slightly, "I like to be able to touch and smell things in the real world too."

"The real world...?" Damon asked, "Then where are we...?" 

"This place is called Lyoko," Aelita replied.

"Lyoko..." Damon mumbled, staring at the ground. "Lyoko...I know this place...but from where...where is it...I can't remember..." Damon closed his eyes tightly and muttered, "Lyoko...Lyoko...loco…right, well...who are you meant to be?"

"I'm Aelita," she replied, patting his shoulder gently. "And you're –"

"Damon," he replied interrupting, "So, this place is called Lyoko, huh...how did I get here, Aelita?"

"I really don't know," Aelita replied, a hint of sadness in her voice. Damon remained silent and slipped his hands into the pouch of his hooded top. Sighing slightly, he looked over the horizon of the ice region.

Back on earth, Jeremie's concern had overcome him. Picking up his cell phone, he dialled Ulrich's number.

"What's going on Jeremie?" Ulrich's voice replied.

"Where are you guys?" Jeremie asked, slightly annoyed. "It's been twenty minutes. It doesn't normally take _this_ long for you to get here!

(Note: It also doesn't take me _THIS_ long to write a story chapter but, meh, stuff comes up.)

"Yumi and I are coming up to the factory now. We'll be there before you know it," Ulrich replied, hanging up, and then dashing with Yumi into the factory and swinging down to land in front of the elevator.

"What the heck is _that_?" Ulrich asked, pointing to a corner of grey cloth hanging from Yumi's pocket. "Started carrying a handkerchief around?"

"Huh? No" Yumi replied, pulling the cloth out, showing a grey bandana with a very delicate stitch pattern running through it.

"Your mom fixed it already?" Ulrich asked, stepping into the elevator.

"Mm-hmm." Yumi replied, stepping in next to him, "She's really good huh?"

"I'll say," Ulrich said, looking closely at it. "I never would have guessed it was ripped if I hadn't already known. Damon's gonna be thrilled."

Yumi smiled and tucked the bandana back into her pocket as the elevator reached the bottom. Making their way to the central control room where Jeremy sat, Yumi and Ulrich stood either side of him, staring at the screen.

"What's up, Jeremie?" Yumi asked, staring closely at the screen, which showed a digital wire frame map of Lyoko, with two coloured triangles highlighted next to each other.

"Where have you been? Aelita's been in there for ages! What if she got deleted!"

"Calm down, Jeremie," Ulrich replied.

"Yeah! _Chill_ Einstein!" A voice called from behind. Odd jogged in stopping beside the three, bending over and breathing heavily. 

"Good, you're _all_. here. Now, let me say this in the nicest possible way...GET YOUR BUTTS TO THE SCANNERS NOW!"

"We're going! We're going!" Ulrich replied, as the three of them left the room. 

"Am I the _only_ one who's on the ball today, or what?" Jeremie muttered to himself. "Humph. Oh well. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."

The three virtualized and landed in Lyoko's ice region. Ulrich looked around, scouting the area for any monsters.

"Hey, Mr. Moody," Odd called. "Where's Aelita?" 

"Just keep heading in the direction you're facing and you'll see her. She's the pink one in all the snow. You can't miss her.

The three looked at each other and nodded, and then set off at a dash to the ice region. A few seconds after running, something flew up and smacked Yumi in the face. She stumbled and stopped, turning her head from side to side and pulling at something grey stuck on her face. Making muffled noises, she pulled the grey item from her face and examined it.

"What the..!" Odd exclaimed, walking to Yumi and looking at what she was holding. "Is that...?"

It was. Damon's grey camouflaged bandana lay limply in Yumi's virtual hands.

"What the heck is...that doing here...?" Ulrich asked, picking up a hanging corner of the bandana and holding it up, peering at it closely.

Nearby in Lyoko, Damon jumped slightly, raising his head to the sky as his eyes opened widely.

"What's wrong?" Aelita piped up. Remaining silent and frowning slightly, Damon raced forward, dashing as fast as he could. 

"Jeremie, are you getting a look at this?" Odd asked, tracing his virtualised fingers against the bandana.

"I sure am, Odd..." Jeremie replied. "I'm trying to scan it but so far I'm not having any luck. The scan is picking up the bandana, but whenever I try to look at its coding, the computer freezes. I can't imagine what extreme levels of encryption there are on it. Yumi, you better destroy that before XANA gets his hands on it. There's no telling _what_ it could do."

"Jeremie's right, Yumi," Ulrich said, "We better destroy that thing right away..."

"I...but Ulrich, what about Damon? You know how much this thing means to him."

"We'll deal with that when the time comes, Yumi. We can't risk this thing being dangerous." Yumi hesitated, but nodded slowly and handed the bandana to Ulrich, who threw it up into the air. "Odd, time for some target practice."

"Mhm." Odd muttered, straightening his arm and aiming it at the slowly falling bandana. "Laser Arro-!"

"STOP!" A voice shouted out. Odd jumped at the shout and so his arm jumped with him, an arrow flying out and shooting past the bandana. Each of the three, looked in the direction of the shout, and saw Damon running towards them, his hood up and concealing his face. Damon ran towards them, stopping with a slight slide, his hands clenched and standing in a fighting stance. "Don't you _dare_ touch that!" He shouted, racing for the bandana still falling slowly to the ground. Odd jumped over Damon's head and grabbed the bandana. Damon turned quickly to watch the cat like creature in shock. "_I must be dreaming…"_ Damon thought. "_This has to be a dream. These are the same guys from my dreams…"_

"Ulrich!" Odd called, scrunching the bandana into a ball and throwing it to him. 

_"Ulrich?"_ Damon thought, as he watched the samurai catch the bandana and dash forward. Shaking his head to regain his sense Damon tore after the samurai, growling with frustration as he watched the samurai throw the bandana to another warrior. "_Wait, I've never seen that one…did I just dream her up too?"_

"Yumi!" Ulrich called, throwing the bandana.

_"Yumi?"_ Damon now thought. Skidding to a stop, he shouted as loud as he could manage.

**"STOP!"**

Yumi, who had only just caught the bandana by diving, got back on her feet but remained stationary, as Ulrich and Odd stood on either side of Damon, sword drawn and arrow poised. "Ulrich..." he said softly. "And…you must be Odd…" Damon slowly moved towards Ulrich, Ulrich stepped forward and held the point of his blade to Damon's throat. Damon remained silent, his face shrouded in darkness, as he watched Ulrich's expression. Ulrich remained silent, his expression frowning slightly, looking into the darkness of Damon's hood. Odd remained alert behind them. He had prepared to shoot an arrow but had decided against it, as the slightest move from Damon would result in a direct hit on Ulrich.

Damon slowly lifted his hands in a surrendering position, remaining silent. Gripping the sides of his hood gently, Damon lifted and slipped it back, showing his face, and staring straight into Ulrich's eyes. "_These guys look and sound just like my friends…even the names match…oh well, it's worth a shot. I'll try to talk to them."_

"Give it back, Ulrich," Damon said clearly. "Or I'll take it."

"_Damon!"_ All three of them questioned at once. Ulrich remained still, holding his sword unmoving against Damon's windpipe.

"What the heck is going on?" Ulrich asked, unsure whether or not to lower his sword.

"What are you guys doing here?" Damon asked, trying to keep up a calm façade.

"That's our line!" Odd chipped in, standing by Ulrich. "What are _you_ doing here!"

"Your guess is as good as mine…" I just fell asleep and ended up here. Then I almost get killed, somehow survive and then I find you guys here!" Damon replied, slightly annoyed at his situation.

"You almost _died?_" Yumi asked, approaching Damon from behind. 

"Yeah, I almost die-yaah!" Damon jumped, having turned and saw Yumi in her virtual warrior costume. "What the…! _Yumi!_" Damon stated in a questioning tone, walking forward and touching her pale white face gently, then rubbing at her cheek hard in an attempt to see if it was makeup.

"Aghk...cut it out!" Yumi said, smacking away his hand.

"It _is_ you…why in the world are you dressed like that?" Damon asked, trying not to crack up laughing.

"Never _mind_ that! What do you mean you _almost_ died? You look totally fine."

"All I know is, I fall asleep, wake up here, and find you guys here. Now I don't know how you guys got me here or even where here is, but just take me back and I'll ignore the fact that you guys kidnapped me. Who's the leader meant to be? You, Ulrich, or Odd? Maybe it's that weird pink girl…"

"What!" Ulrich asked. His blade was still trained on Damon, but he took a small step back, considering lowering the sword. "We didn't _kid_nap you, Damon."

"And I suppose we just happen to be in the same weird place at the same weird time. Not to mention the clothes and the blade. Look, I don't care how you guys got me here, just get me back. "

"We didn't kidnap you Damon, and we _don't_ know how you got here. What matters is how we can get you back, because I need to take a serious look at you," Jeremie's voice interjected.

"What do you _mean_ take a look at me?" Damon asked, slightly apprehensive.

"Yeah, Brainiac," Odd asked, "What do you mean take a look at him?"

"I need to get Damon into a scanner and scan his body immediately," Jeremie replied, a hint of excitement in his voice, "I think he may hold the _key_ to materializing Aelita."

End.

This seems like a good enough place to leave it. Sorry this chapter took so long, and the next one will take awhile too since I got exams starting really soon. And then there's X-Mas coming. So don't hold your breath for the next chapter, or I'll have to come tickle you till you burst out laughing.

Give it up for the new (and hopefully permanent) editor:deviconMewberries:

So, all comments and reviews are welcomed. I know this chapter isn't as good as the others, but stay with me. This is going to be a great story.

Umm…what else to add…ummm….ok, working on an OC drawing, the nomad picture in my DeviantArt gallery is a vector art as myself, because as I've said several times before I see all my OC characters as myself, how I would personally act and fight if I were inside the show. I'm working on pictures of both Damon and the nomad, and also a picture of the character to be in my Shaman King fic, but that won't even be started until I finish both this story and the TT one. Speaking of which, I'm not sure if I uploaded the latest chapter of it, but meh, you'll see it when you see it.

Kinda going on now…but this is MY story, you stop reading when I tell you to stop!

Okayyy….stop.

Nnnnnnn…..now!

Now.


	5. Give My Bandana Back

The Virtual Dreamer: Chapter 5

"The key to what!" Damon asked.

"You may be the key to materializing Aelita, Damon," Jeremie replied. "If you stand in a scanner and I examine your data, it may unlock the key to materializing Aelita over there."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up," Damon said, waving his hands guardedly. "This is a little too much to handle at once. First, you guys kidnap me and take me to this place which I somehow already know about because I dream about it, and then you take my bandana and expect me to _help_ you?"

"For the last time, we _didn't _kidnap you," Ulrich cut in.

"Then take me back," Damon replied, a hint of smugness in his voice.

"We don't know how you got here, so how are we gonna know how to get you back?" Odd asked.

"Not my problem," Damon replied. "Figure out a way to get me back or I'm not going to help you," he stated, sitting down on the ground and crossing his arms and legs, ignoring the fact that Ulrich's blade was still pointed to his throat.

Yumi, in an effort to progress things, further asked Damon, "How do you get back from here in your dreams?"

"Well they're dreams, so when I wake up the dreams over, _duuuuh!_" Damon replied sarcastically.

"So why don't you just wake up?" Odd asked.

"Don't you think I would have tried that already? I can't wake up because I'm not dreaming. I'm here for real. For one thing, I don't have my weapon and I'm not wearing the clothes I always wear when I'm in here in my dreams."

A few moments of silence followed Damon's explanation, each of them forming the same theory in their head, each of them entertaining the possibility that Damon was this warrior, this nomad in their land. Damon remained silent and patient, closing his eyes, staying still on the ground with his arms and legs crossed, seemingly in a state of deep meditation. He seemed wise, even majestic to the three watching him; not moving a single inch, not a muscle on his face moving, his breathing calm, and his face expressionless. Ulrich was becoming increasingly annoyed; his blade being ignored, his skill undermined. Ulrich decided to set their fears to rest with a simple question.

"Damon," he said, trying to catch his attention. The meditating stranger sat still and motionless, not making a sound. Ulrich looked to both of his friends for any kind of response, but they merely shrugged their shoulders. Ulrich moved closer to Damon, his sword no longer trained on Damon's throat but still held ready in his hand, just in case.

"Damon!" he said again, louder this time. There was still no response. Now the interests of the other two were aroused and they each moved the same distance closer to Damon, standing together they leaned in closer to him.

"Damon?" Yumi asked. Again, there was no response. Damon remained in his set position as the three of them took a closer look at him. Odd could hear a low rumbling coming from Damon's mouth so he leaned his ear closer.

"_Zzzz…"_

Stunned silence followed. Damon had fallen asleep. Ulrich lost his temper, pulling back and trying to refrain from swinging his sword at Damon.

"**_WAKE UP!" _**he ordered angrily. Damon woke with a start and fell from his sitting position backwards onto the ground, bumping his head in the process.

"Ow!" he said irritably, rubbing the back of his head while he sat up again. "What the heck was that for!" Ulrich nearly lost his temper once more, but managed to remain calm and ask his question at last.

"Damon, you said when you came here the other times, you had clothes and weapons. What kind? What did they look like?" he asked, struggling to make his voice sound pleasant.

"Umm…let's see, I wear black pants, kinda baggy, but they let me move easily. A white shirt and a vest on top which matches the pants pretty well, and my sunglasses. I have a staff with me as a weapon, and of course the bandana that Samurai Boy over there is holding hostage," Damon said, an air of carelessness in his voice. "All in all, I must say my dream self has pretty good dress sense," he added, laughing a little to himself.

Yumi and Odd gasped while Ulrich remained silent, his expression hardening. Jeremie, sitting at his computer, tapped a few keys and an image of the Nomad fighting Ulrich and Odd, that he had managed to save, appeared on the screen. Jeremie checked the clothes Damon described against the Nomad's gear several times, unable to deny that they matched perfectly.

"_There's no doubt about it…the faces match, the weapons match, the clothes and the voices match…it has to be him. Damon has to be the Nomad of Lyoko!" _he thought to himself.

"Damon," Jeremie said clearly into the microphone. "This is Jeremie, can you hear me?" No answer came. "Damon, this is Jeremie, do you copy?" Utter silence followed again. "Ulrich," Jeremie said this time.

"What is it, Jeremie?" Ulrich replied quickly.

"Ask Damon if he knows anything about the Nomad," Jeremie told him calmly. Ulrich moved away from the others to continue his conversation in private.

"Are you sure? He might turn into the 'Nomad guy' and attack us again," Ulrich cautioned.

"Hmm, good point, so what do you think we should do?" Jeremie asked. "Damon's not going anywhere, and he says he can't wake up. We can investigate a few other things in the real world tomorrow, so maybe it's time for you guys to head back home," Jeremie said.

"But what about Damon?" Ulrich replied. "We can't just leave him here. He has no idea about anything that's going on. He probably doesn't know about XANA, or the monsters, or returning to the past. He could get killed out here."

"He can handle himself Ulrich. If he's the Nomad, then you've experienced first hand that he can take care of anything that comes his way," countered Jeremie.

"But he isn't the Nomad right now, is he?" Ulrich said pressingly and a heated debate began to stir between the two of them over what could happen should Damon be left to fend for himself.

Elsewhere in the real world, Jim was stumbling drowsily through the corridors of Kadic Academy, making his rounds before he could finally go to sleep. He entered the science lab, flicking on the lights, wincing and rubbing his eyes at the bright lights that forced him to squint for a few seconds. He staggered around inside the classroom, making sure nothing was out of place.

"Urgh…stupid kids," he yawned, moving around. His foot caught something and he fell over heavily. "Woah!" he called, his body smacking against the floor. "Why can't these kids pick up their stuff before leaving," he grumbled, rubbing his sore shoulder. He looked up and saw someone slumped over the desk. Jim leant on a desk and used it to help himself up. As he did, he placed a hand on the sleeping person's shoulder and shook it gently. No answer. Jim shook the person again, a little harder this time. The person's arm fell from the desk, revealing their face.

"It's that new kid…Demon or whatever he's called," he mumbled. "Hey," he called, shaking Damon once more. "Kid, wake up. You must not be getting enough sleep, managing to sleep here the whole day…"

Damon remained unconscious. "…Kid?" Jim called again, beginning to get concerned. He lifted Damon up from his sitting position, shaking his shoulders firmly. "Kid, wake up," Jim said again, becoming increasingly worried.

He shook Damon again, roughly this time. "Hey! Wake up!" Damon's head flopped from side to side, almost lifelessly. Jim panicked and ran from the classroom, making his way to the principal's quarters.

Back in the factory, Jeremie was finalizing his plans with Ulrich, the argument finally settled.

"So it's decided," Jeremie said in a relieved tone. "You three are coming back home. Damon is going to stay with Aelita and we'll leave the bandana with her too."

"I'm still not too sure about that Jeremie, "Ulrich said. "What if Damon hurts Aelita and steals it off of her?"

"No. I'm one hundred percent sure we should leave the bandana with Aelita. If any monsters come, Damon should be able to protect Aelita until they can both find a tower to hide in. If Damon really is this 'Nomad guy', a few of XANA's monsters will be no problem at all."

"And if he hurts her? Maybe even destroys her _after_ he's done fighting the monsters?" Ulrich asked concerned.

"He wont," Jeremie replied confidently. "Aelita saved his life remember? I'm sure he won't hurt her. I mean…he owes her."

"I still don't think it's a good idea," Ulrich replied, in a somewhat defeated tone. "Can't you just devirtualize the bandana too?"

"We have no idea how the thing got _in_ Lyoko. How the heck do you expect to get it _OUT_?"

"Okay, okay, we're heading back right now. Prepare to devirtualize us," Ulrich conceded.

"OK," Jeremie replied. Tapping in a sequence of codes, he prepared the devirtualization program. Ulrich made his way back to the others and told them the plan.

"So you're just going to leave me here?" Damon asked, his voice mostly calm, yet with a hint of worry, possibly even fear within it.

"That's right," Ulrich said. "You're staying here with Aelita. She knows Lyoko inside and out, so if you get into trouble listen to what she says and go where she tells you to."

"Are you sure about this?" Yumi asked, not wanting to leave her friend behind.

"Yeah," Odd chipped in. "I mean, he's not exactly an expert on this place, or in defeating XANA's monsters…"

"If he does what Aelita says, he won't have to fight any monsters," Ulrich replied. "Jeremie and I have gone through _every possibility_, trust me."

"Okaaay…if you're sure," Odd said, giving in. Fatigue had gripped all three of them now and they were eager to get some rest.

"Damon, you just need to follow any instructions Aelita gives you, ok?" Yumi advised him.

"Look, I told you. I've been here before. I know this place from my dreams. I don't care about any of this materialization stuff. All I want is to get back home," Damon said adamantly.

"Ok, we'll work on getting you back first thing tomorrow, ok?" Ulrich replied in an exhausted tone.

"Fine. Go on. Get out of here," Damon said coldly, standing up and turning his back to them as he walked off. Aelita followed quietly a few feet behind him.

"You heard the man, Jeremie. Next stop: Earth," Odd said. A few seconds after that, the three warriors de-pixelized into wire frames and disappeared from Lyoko. As they stepped out of their scanners, the three of them agreed to meet at the factory the next day straight after school and then left for home; Jeremie, Ulrich, and Odd together and Yumi hoping nobody noticed a life-size teddy bear was in her bed instead of her.

Back at the academy, principal Delmas followed Jim down the corridor towards the infirmary. Nurse Dorothy was waiting there in a nightgown and slippers, yawning and still half asleep. Damon lay limply in Jim's arms, motionless and breathing shallowly.

"Why, who is this?" the nurse asked in a concerned tone.

"This is a new student at Kadic, Dorothy. Jim found him unconscious and hasn't been able to wake him," Mr. Delmas explained.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked.

"You're the nurse. You take a look at him. And make it quick; this kid's heavy!" Jim cut in, struggling to support Damon's weight.

"OK. Bring him in quickly," Dorothy responded, unlocking the doors and clearing the way. Jim slowly staggered in and laid Damon on an infirmary bed. Dorothy took a close look at Damon, checking his pulse and temperature, listening to his heartbeat and breathing pattern.

Several minutes later, the principal cut in with a question. "Do you have some kind of idea what's wrong with him, Nurse?" he asked. After a few more minutes of listening to Damon's heartbeat with a stethoscope, she pulled away with a very confused look on her face. Removing the stethoscope from her ears and replacing it around her neck, she turned back to the principal.

"I can't find anything wrong with him…He seems to be in completely perfect health; his breathing, heart rate and temperature are at normal levels," she said simply.

"What!" Jim exclaimed, slightly annoyed by the lack of new information. "So then, what's wrong with this kid? What's he _doing?" _

"He's….sleeping," Dorothy replied, an expression of disbelief both in her expression and voice. "Just…_sleepin_g."

The three of them remained silent, a look of utter confusion on each of their faces. As if in search of an answer, they looked down at Damon, whose only response was a light snore.

Yumi had just reached home and luckily managed to climb through her window and avoid being caught. Without stopping to even change her clothes, she simply collapsed on top of the large teddy in her bed, fast asleep.

Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremie managed to infiltrate the dorms with a minimum amount of fuss. At the moment, Odd was standing guard at the corner of their dorm, checking for Jim's presence. Peeking half of his head around the corner, he searched with one eye for the large gym teacher. Pulling his head back, he signalled that the coast was clear with a thumbs-up and the three of them made a straight run for their rooms, closing the doors behind them without a word and getting into bed, also falling asleep straight away.

Damon walked through the forest region, Aelita following behind him. While she bowed her head slightly to avoid the branches, Damon just walked straight through them, paying them no attention at all. After they had left the main area of the forest and were into the more sparse outskirts, Damon stopped suddenly. Aelita took a step back, preparing for the worst, and watching Damon warily.

"Aelita…that's your name, right?" Damon said, his back still to her. Aelita responded with a murmur and a nod. The nod Damon could not see, but he accepted the grunt as a yes.

"Listen," he said, turning to face her. "I'm ok with being a prisoner or whatever here. I don't really care who those guys are, or how they trapped me in my dream world. I feel like I know you already, and I trust you…I mean, you wouldn't save my life just to betray me," he muttered. "I don't know why you're with them, but getting back is all I care about. That and getting my bandana back. So please, Aelita, give that back to me," he said pleadingly.

Aelita shook her head somewhat sadly. "I'm sorry, Damon," she replied. "But I promised I'd hold on to this. I was specifically told to make sure I didn't give it to you unless we were in danger."

"Why only if we're in danger?" he asked.

"Because, if we're in danger and I give this to you, you'll probably save me. If I give it to you now, you'll probably let them get me and take the bandana," Aelita lied, not wanting Damon to know that the others feared him transforming into the Nomad.

Damon remained silent for a few moments and then began walking again. The two of them plodded along through the virtual world, moving from the forest region and into the mountain region. Here, Damon stopped again, this time at a high cliff. He stood there with his hands in his front pocket, looking over the horizon. Aelita stood next to him, holding her hands in front of her.

"It's a beautiful sight…" Aelita said softly.

"Yeah…Too bad it's not real," Damon said in a contemplative tone. "This is one of my favorite places in the entire dream world…I mean...Lyoko. It's called Lyoko, now," he finished, his voice tinted with a slight depression.

"You know, Damon," Aelita said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "The view doesn't have to be real for you to really appreciate it. A work of art isn't always something you can see or touch. A painting isn't real but you can still appreciate the beauty of it."

"I guess…" Damon shrugged. He had mostly stopped paying attention to anything around him. Instead, he thought about what Aelita had said: He would only get his bandana back if they were in danger and Aelita needed to be saved.

"_I really don't want to do this,"_ Damon thought. _"But if I'm the one to attack her, then she will be in danger, and she will need to be saved, and…I really want my bandana back," _Damon sighed and resigned himself to attacking Aelita. "_Okay, ready, one…two…-"_

"Damon?" Aelita asked, surprising him slightly and causing him to lose his plan momentarily.

"Uh…yeah?" he replied.

"Why do you care so much about this bandana?" she asked, holding it up. Damon's eyes fixed on the bandana in her hand.

"I've had that bandana for as long as I can remember. It's been with me my entire life. It's the only thing that's stayed with me. I don't have any parents, any real family. That bandana is all I have," he explained slowly. "You know, growing up completely alone, it can make you pretty mad sometimes. Lonely too. It can make you a lot of things, but whenever I'd feel upset or mad at all, I'd have that with me. I'd hold it in my hand and look at it, for ages…and one day, I realised that I felt calm when it was with me…things weren't so bad. I'd think, at least I have my bandana. As dumb as this may sound, that thing is a part of me. This is longest time I've been without it…"

Damon finished his reply, his eyes still set on the bandana. Aelita smiled and nodded, holding the bandana out in front of her.

"Here," she said. "You can have it back."

"I can?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. "What's the catch?"

"Catch? What does that mean?" Aelita asked, slightly confused.

"It means, what do I have to do in return to get it back," Damon replied.

"Do? Hmm…how about this: Whenever I'm in trouble, you have to promise to come and save me. Deal?" she said, holding the bandana from a corner, letting the rest hang down for Damon to take.

"Deal," he said, taking his hands out of his pockets with a big smile. He reached towards the bandana, his fingers closing around it.

As Aelita released the corner, an amazing flash of light enveloped the both of them. Lyoko itself appeared to be on white hot fire, and a globe of light expanded from Damon. As the light faded, Damon had disappeared, and the Nomad stood in his place, staff attached to his back.

The nomad looked down at himself and took off his sunglasses. He looked up at Aelita with a shocked expression on his face. Aelita had stepped back in caution, ready to run if necessary. The Nomad paid no attention. He was examining his clothes, his weapon, his power.

"_This is it!"_ he thought. _"This is the person I am in my dreams! But I'm still me…I'm conscious…aren't I? I must be…but I feel so strong. I've never felt better in my life!" _

"Damon?" Aelita called from a safe distance away. Damon remained completely silent. Stretching and flexing his arms. After a few more moments, he looked over at Aelita, genuinely shocked and amazed.

"Damon? Is that you?" Aelita called again, cupping her hands in front of her mouth.

"Whoa," intoned the Virtual Dreamer.

End of chapter five.

Well that was fun…sorry about the long delay…GCSE's and all…

Hope you're enjoying the story, and keep reading.


	6. First of many discoveries

The next chapter begins:

And now it's over. Ha. You lose, you fail at life

HAHAHAHAHALOLWTFBBQSQUEEZYCHEESEIMAKEBIGFUNNAY!Oneone!...Twelve.

Anyway: I own nothing portrayed in the story other than my own character, Damon Okoyl, the Lyoko Nomad, grey bandanas, the letter 9 and all other things that are fun to look at when you are stoned. This chapter will tell a little about Damon's past, and have some good action.

Chapter Six

"Whoa," the Nomad said, clenching and unclenching his fist, flexing his arm muscles. He moved his arms out in a spread eagled position and looked down at his clothes.

"_This is too crazy…" _he thought, _"I know these clothes…and that weapon!"_ he added, glancing behind him at the staff attached to his back, no holster, no holder keeping it in place, just a staff on his back, remaining completely still as if glued. He raised his hand to his back and closed his fingers over it.

The staff came away instantly and Damon brought it in front of him. In his one hand, he flipped it over the back of his wrist. Catching it again, he swung it in front of him, from his right side to his left, then back again, swinging it in a backhand motion. He brought it up close to his face and lifted his sunglasses, looking closely at it. Satisfied with its authenticity, he raised his arm and placed the staff on his back. Again, it stuck still.

"So…" he said. "I guess this is it. My dream world is a reality. I attacked my friends and I didn't even know it. No wonder they didn't want to trust me…" he thought out loud, as Aelita slowly approached him from behind. The Nomad remained still and silent, deep in thought.

"Why _did _you attack them?" Aelita asked hesitantly.

"I thought I was dreaming…I just figured since I never had any friends and since I was always alone in my dreams too…and then I met Odd and the others and saw them here. I thought it was normal for people to dream like that, you know?" he replied, his voice deep with shame.

"I see. But that doesn't really explain _why_ you chose to attack them," Aelita replied in an understanding, but still slightly apprehensive tone.

"I didn't think it would actually _do_ anything. I just thought I was dreaming, and I saw this as a chance to train and practice. I mean, I've seen this place so many times before, so when I saw new people here, I saw a chance to fight. How was I supposed to know they were my real friends?"

"I understand," Aelita said. "You didn't know they were really people and that Lyoko is a virtual world."

"Yeah." Damon nodded his head. "I had always assumed this was just a dream place. I thought everyone went to a place like this when they slept…but I guess it's just me." He paused a moment. "There is one thing that bothers me though…about the clothes Ulrich and the others were wearing."

"What do you mean?" asked Aelita.

"Well…I wasn't 100 truthful when I said I've _always_ been alone here. Awhile ago, a really long time ago, maybe a year or so, I was never alone in here, and there were always people for me to fight. And they were dressed just like Odd and the others. Exactly like them," Damon explained. "But one day, they disappeared. _Poof_. Gone. Just like that, I was all alone. And then I saw Ulrich and the others dressed like them. I couldn't have known it was them. I just saw the clothes and reacted the way I always used to when I saw them. I attacked…" Damon's voice trailed off in to silence.

"Other people…in Lyoko?" Aelita asked, intrigued. "What were their names?"

"I don't know their real names, but they called each other code names," answered Damon. "I remember the female fighter, the one dressed like Yumi, was Commander Erynn Star Way, the leader of the group. The guy dressed like Odd was codenamed Rodri, and the guy in the samurai garb was called SamBlob. The one controlling the computer, doing what Jeremie does for everyone, virtualizing and devirtualizing, her nickname was Mewberries, and her assistant was called KaruriChi. They never said each others real name. I used to fight them everyday, and whenever I defeated them they just disappeared." The Nomad finished, his back still to Aelita.

"I see…and what if you didn't defeat them…?" Aelita asked, making sure to mentally note every point of information.

"I always defeated them. Always," the Nomad replied, a hint of cockiness in his voice.

"Okay...so in the hypothetical situation that you didn't defeat them, _then_ what would you do, Damon?" Aelita tried again.

"I would go into a tower and either be healed or wake up from there," was the Nomad's response.

"I see…"Aelita mumbled, her voice trailing off. Suddenly, a question sprang to mind. "Damon," she said quickly. "How did you teleport away when you first fought Odd and Ulrich?"

"I can teleport once every time I come here, to get away from mortal danger. I never tested it, but I'm pretty sure that if I die here, I die for good," he answered solemnly.

"I see…" Aelita said once more, looking over the cliff they were standing at to the ground below. "Damon?" she asked, much more quietly this time.

"Hm?"

"I think we should go now," she replied. At the bottom of the cliff, she could see two swarms of hornets and a megatank approaching. "Some monsters are approaching. We should run," Aelita suggested.

"No way," the Nomad replied, stepping to the cliff and peering over. "This is gonna be too much fun." He turned back towards the virtual girl. "Don't worry Aelita, I'll protect you. That was the deal, right?" he added, grinning slightly.

"No Damon, it's too dangerous. I'd really rather just go to a tower and hide for now..."

"Oh, can't I go break just a couple of them? _Please?_ Come on so much talking and stuff today. I'm restless!" he pleaded.

"Ohh, well I-" Aelita started.

"Yes!" Damon cut in, grabbing the staff from his back and diving over the cliff edge. "Woohoo!"

"Oh my goodness! Damon!" Aelita called, falling to her knees and leaning over the edge of the cliff, her arm outstretched as she watched Damon fall. The Nomad of Lyoko fell swiftly, his body pointed straight downwards and a wide smile on his face. The Hornets looked up and saw the Nomad falling toward them; they instinctively raised their lasers and pointed them up at the nomad, firing wildly. Excitement and adrenaline took over his body and Damon began swinging his staff, deflecting three of the lasers. The hornets began a flight up the side of the mountain firing lasers at the Nomad.

"Let's do it!" the Nomad shouted, now running down the side of the mountain. Hopping from side to side across the rocky face of the cliff, he swung his staff and destroyed two hornets. "Woohoo! Wooohoohoooo!" he whooped, as he fell ever faster from the great height, his voice full of joy.

"Wheeee-haha! Yeah!" he called running down, step by step on the cliff face, accelerating even faster. Jumping slightly and flipping over so that he fell feet first, Damon pushed his legs out to either side and split kicked two hornets, his feet landing right in the target weak point of the monsters. Not even stopping to watch them explode, he lifted his legs and flipped over backwards once more, resuming his vertical drop. A swarm of eight hornets gathered directly below the Nomad, firing their lasers frantically and trying to overwhelm him.

Damon held his staff by its center in front of him with both hands as his body began to spin rapidly. He spun faster and faster, deflecting the lasers to the side as the swarm flew straight up towards him firing. The swarm got closer and closer, not letting up as they drew together for a collision with the warrior. The Nomad blew straight through the swarm, leaving a large explosion as the spinning blur disappeared within it, only to reappear out of the bottom of it a few moments later. Damon kicked his feet against the cliff face and began to flip over, stopping his spinning and resuming a straight fall once more.

"Whoo…ok…no more doing that…too dizzy," he laughed, having fallen half the way down the cliff. The remainder of the swarm lined up directly below the Nomad, each one higher than the last, firing their beams parallel to him.

"That's kinda stupid," the boy muttered. "Line 'em up so I can knock 'em down. Time to finish them off and head back up."

Damon began running against the cliff face once more, tossing his staff up gently and slowing his run so that the staff fell in front of him. With the staff falling in front of him parallel to the wall, the pair of them accelerated towards the hornets, waiting for the right moment to strike.

In a split second, the Nomad jumped once more, turning his body and kicking the end of the staff down. He watched it ricochet against the cliff wall, just barely missing the first hornet, but destroying all the others one after the other, the resulting explosions following in a consecutive line. The staff ricocheted off of the final hornet and hit the cliff wall again, now spinning in circles. Damon slowed his fall by holding his arms and legs out and flattening his body, giving his staff time to catch up.

"Aww, I missed one!" he pouted. As the staff reached him, he kicked it back up once more and destroyed the final hornet.

"Got it!" he said triumphantly, now free-falling vertically. While only a quarter mile away from the ground, the staff shot down like an arrow past him. "Whuh-oh…Hey wait for me!" Damon called to the rogue weapon, sprinting down the cliff face as fast as he could after it.

His legs a blur, the Nomad slowly gained on the weapon, shooting closer and closer to the ground. "Nearly there….neaaaaarly there." he urged, stretching his hand for the staff. "Aaaannnnndd…gotcha!" he called, closing his hand over the end of the staff closest to him. Plowing both of his legs into the cliff face, he shot away from it with the staff held straight in front of him.

"Wow! That was the most fun I've had in a really long time!" Damon thought to himself, gliding down through the air. While he descended slowly to the ground, he failed to notice the megatank roll directly below him.

The tank split in two and fired its massive 360 degree attack directly up at the Nomad. With no where to go or dodge while he was in midair, Damon could only look down helplessly at the wall of laser fire rising to meet him. "…Whoops," he mumbled sheepishly. As the beam powered directly up towards him, the Nomad turned into a wire frame form and disappeared from the path of the tank's attack.

"What? He teleported!" Aelita exclaimed, after watching the entire event with awe from the ledge high above. "But, where did he go?" she asked out loud, looking around for him. A few seconds later, Damon appeared several feet in the air, a wire frame at first before becoming a solid mass.

"-Uaahh-!" was the only sound he could manage as he fell the short distance flat onto his face with a resounding thwack.

"Ow…" he grumbled, sitting up.

"Damon! Are you ok?" Aelita asked, crouching beside him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm totally fine!" the warrior replied brusquely, standing up and dusting himself off. A few moments later, a loud rumble could be heard. The megatank was attacking the cliff, firing a beam that was causing the cliff side to crumble.

"Aaaaah!" Aelita cried, stumbling backwards off of the cliff. Damon dived off a moment later behind her. He flipped once, kicking off against the face of the cliff and shot towards her.

"I've got you, Aelita!" the Nomad called, grabbing a hold of her. Drawing his staff and stabbing it into the cliff, he stopped their fall, still holding onto Aelita with one arm.

"Oh…" Aelita panted. "Thanks, Damon."

"Anytime," the boy replied. Letting go of the staff, he held Aelita bridal style and dropped gently to the ground. Setting her down, he looked up at his precious weapon still lodged in the rock above.

"I'm sorry, Damon…I made you lose your weapon," Aelita said remorsefully. But Damon simply smiled at her.

"No, you didn't," he said knowingly, looking up at the staff. "_RUROUSHA!"_ he called. At the word, the staff began to shake in the rock, finally dislodging itself and falling to the ground, sticking upright in it.

"Rurousha: a codeword to have the staff return to me." Damon explained. "I'm _never _unprepared," he added boastfully.

Behind him, the megatank rolled over once more and fired another beam. This time, it was Aelita's turn to spring into action. She tackled the Nomad back out of the way of the beam. He looked up at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Looks like it's your turn to save me, huh?" he said. Aelita smiled and laughed under her breath.

"Come on, angel. Time to go!" Damon said, sitting up and pulling Aelita into a run towards the nearest tower, the megatank behind them in hot pursuit.

Shot after shot, the megatank fired, only barely missing the two. Finally, the tank fired one more shot at the pair of them which went far wide of its target. Aelita slowed a little to catch her breath. Damon then saw an opportunity and capitalized on it.

Running alongside Aelita, panting slightly as well, he said to her, "Aelita, I promised you that I'd make sure you were safe right?"

"Right!" Aelita replied.

"Then what I'm about to do is for your own good!" he said, taking his staff from his back and stopping a short distance away from Aelita.

"What are you talking about!" she asked, running towards him. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm really sorry about thiiiiiis!" he called, swinging his body in a full circle with the staff. He swung, hitting Aelita in the back as hard as he could, causing her to go flying high and forward.

"Ooaaaah!" Aelita cried, flailing wildly in the air, flying against the wall of the tower and disappearing safely inside.

"Phew…" the Nomad breathed. "She's safe."

"Now, it's time to get rid of this big old bowling ball," he muttered, looking back towards the megatank. Damon jammed his staff into the ground and broke into a dead sprint towards the tank, which split open and charged another deadly beam.

"_RUROUSHA!"_ he shouted suddenly. Instantly, the staff began to vibrate within the ground before breaking free, zooming towards the boy. When the megatank fired its beam, Damon dodged to the side, running around behind the tank seemingly confused as to how to beat it. A few moments, later the staff shot towards the Nomad, now hiding behind the megatank, hitting the target right in the centre instead and causing the tank to explode. The staff flipped upwards high into the air, the triumphant warrior caught it, placing it on his back and running back towards the tower. As he disappeared behind its wall, a bright flash of light followed his entry.

After a few moments, Aelita went flying out of the tower; the same way she had when she'd first took Damon in for healing.

"Wooooah-!" She flew a few feet from the tower, flailing her arms, before landing hard on her back with a thump. She staggered to her feet and entered the tower once more, only to find that it was now empty.

"Damon!" she called, looking around the lone platform of the tower's bottom floor. "Where are you?" No answer came from him or anyone else. The tower was empty.

"Nurse, have you any idea what's wrong with this young man?" the principal asked solemnly. The night had rolled away into day, and all efforts to rouse Damon had been in vain. Dorothy shook her head sadly. "I see," the principal continued. "It seems we have no choice but to call an ambulance to take him away for proper treatment. Jim, please call for assistance."

Jim nodded and picked up the phone, dialing the emergency hotline. "Hello? We need an ambulance at Kadic Acade-…" he trailed off, his eyes fixed on Damon. The young man yawned and then sat up, stretching his arms and neck.

"Mmmmmm….what a great night's sleep," he murmured, rubbing his eyes and looking around. "Whuh….what the…" he sputtered, looking around, his eyes wide with panic. **_"What the heck are you all doing in my room!"_**

End of Chapter 6

A.N. Ok, I squeezed this out in a DAY. Appreciate it; this is one day of GCSE revision I will NEVER get back. But I couldn't leave everyone hanging for this long. Don't expect any updates for a good long time, at the very least a month. Sorry if the quality of this chapter isn't as good as the rest, but GCSE's are GCSE's. When they're over, I'll have plenty of time to work hard on the fic. Peace.

Editor Commentary (new feature for this chapter) by Mewberries151: Testing…um…hello…yes, I'm Trikninja's editor for this fic…I honestly can't figure out what he needs me for though. XD He's a fantastic writer all on his own. I hope those of you from the CL boards at TV Tome and LyokoFreak found that small tribute the author added in their amusing and fun. I know I did:D Ph34r my 1337 J3r3m13-ness! ; pokes her Leet speech Trikninja's going to kill me for that…this is why I do not make a good editor. X) Anyways, I know I enjoyed this chapter and I hope you all did too. Show this author some love now and let him know you did. . Buh byes!


	7. Of Deals and New Rivalries

Disclaimer: Me. Own Nothing. Go Hell.

Also. . Please keep in mind this is just something for people to check out, Hopefully I will be able to reacquiore my editor Mewberries and we can get fully back on track once and for all! Until then, enjoy the unboldened, un-italic, windows spell checked mess.

"What the heck are you all doing in my room!"

The sun had risen on a new day at Kadic, and at the same time Damon Okoyl had finally risen from his long slumber, looking around the room, he was greeted by the shocked and still faces of Principal Delmas, Jim, and Yolande.

"Umm..I mean..good morning?" Damon asked, slightly perplexed as Jims completely confused face stared straight into his. "...There a reason I'm in here?" he added

"Damon, what happenned to you last night?" the principal asked sternly.

"Lets see..woke up..had breakfast...did a test, fell asleep, woke up here." Damon counted off, using his fingers. "Why, is it against school policy to sleep in class?" he asked, obviously knowing the answer to the question.

"I'll tell ya what's against school policy kid!" Jim replied, "Falling asleep in class and ignoring a wake up call from a former town crier and making him carry your heavy butt to the infirmary!"

"...You were a town crier?" Damon replied after a short silence.

"...I don't want to talk about it." Jim replied, turning away in a slight huff,

"Yolande..please give Damon a check over and then let him go on his way, he has classes to attend today." The principal cut over, frowning a little at Jims back as he turned to leave, stopping at the door, the principal paused and turned to Damon. "Oh and Damon?" he added, "Try to establish proper sleeping patterns my boy, sleeping from noon till morning the next day can't possibly be healthy for a boy your age."

"...Right" was the reply as Damon watched the principal head off, Jim marching behind as he let Yolande perform her checks. With a clean bill of health Damon jumped from the front door of the infirmary as he stretched his body out around him. "A crazy dream sure builds a crazy appetite", he mumbled to himself, heading off to the cafeteria. Damons walking was slow as he approached the building, the smell of food and the bustling racket of other students, shaking him from his thoughts. Pondering the reality of his dreams Damon meandered through the crowded tables, finding a clear one as he sat down with his tray. His eyes darted around the room lazily as he leant against his palm. staring up at the ceiling.

"That was one funky dream..." he thought, "Ice-World...no, it's Lyoko..I haven't been there in a year..why did I show up there again, why did my friends show up in my old opponents clothes...more importantly..what does this mean..the change of clothes, the increase in power from my bandana, is this real, or just my subconscious telling me I believe my bandana is special and makes me strong...this is such a brain bender..." he mused, a voice behind him calling him, calling him again, it went unanswered until an arm slapped onto his shoulder.

"Damon!" A familiar voice called as he turned to see Odd, Aelita, Yumi and Ulrich standing around him. "What the heck are you doing here?!" Odd asked, the others staring at him in pure disbelief. Damon was slowly becoming annoyed with the number of people staring at him like some kind of oddity as he turned back to his food.

"I'm eating breakfast, what does it look like? This isn't a public show by the way, it's french toast." he added, pointing at his tray. The others sat around him, trying not to stare as Damon stabbed quietly at his plate with a fork.

"Damon, why aren't you in Lyoko?" Jeremy asked, "Aelita told us as soon as we went to materialize her this morning for class, you ran into a tower and then vanished."

"Okay, so either this is some kind of wierd joke or it's all just been proven that it's not a dream, before we get to that however..." Damon said clearly, setting his cutlery down and looking straight at Yumi. "Bandana. Now." he demanded, frowning. "If last night wasn't a dream, it means you tried to destroy it in Lyoko, which means it's not safe around any of you, give it back." he added. Silence and stillness was his reply as Damon rose from his seat, glaring at everyone around the table.

"Just, wait a second would you Damon?" Jeremie replied, breaking the silence. "There's too much that Banda can tell us, it could be the complete answer to everything we need, the data in there could be anything, my theory is that it can either be the key to permanently freeing Aelita from Lyoko, or it could provide us with a way to enter Lyoko without having to go to the factory like you do, in any case, we can't let you have it back, and Yumi is going to hold onto it until we say you can take it back." at this remark, Damon slammed his fist into the table.

"I want it back and I want it now." Damon stated once more,glaring straight into Yumis face she stared down at the table, the force of his hand shaking the table, Odd remained silent, wanting to give his opinion, but knowing he would be shot down, having been silent for what he believed to be too long, Ulrich rose, staring across the table at Damon.

"Don't try to threaten us Damon, and don't try to bully us into getting that thing back, it's not going to work." He said, frowning,his face unblinking as he met Damon in a staring match.

"You talk big Ulrich, if I remember correctly last time we threw down you didn't stand a chance." Damon replied cooly, "I don't want to fight, I want whats mine, keeping something that doesn't belong to you, without permission, when I entrusted it to you, is wrong, but I don't have to tell you that, you all know it. Well, I'm pretty sure some of you do, the other one or two are too caught up in your own selfish plans to consider how other people are affected by them. Now give back my bandana, or I will take it. Are we clear?" Was Damons final reply, as he glanced around the table, his gaze lingering on Jeremie.

The entire cafeteria had fallen silent, all the students, previously unhushable and loud, had fallen deathy quiet,

Damon and Ulrich had squared off, both ready to move at a moments notice.

"STERN! YOKEL! What's going on here!" A deep voice boomed out, as all heads turned to the entrance to the cafeteria, the stocky gym teacher standing there with his hands at his sides. A few moments later Jim strode over to the table as both Ulrich and Damon sat back down, Damon moodily picking at his tray once more.

"Nothings going on Jim, we were just talking." Ulrich replied, not taking his eyes from Damon,

"It's Okoyl...my name is Okoyl, not YOKEL." Damon grumbled, raising an eyebrow and pushing his tray away as Jim grunted a little laugh and meandered off. As Damon scowled over the table at Ulrich. Aelita piped up.

"Yumi, may I have the bandana please?" Aelita asked,

"Sure.." Yumi replied, drawing it from her pocket and handing it over to Aelita underneath the table. Damons eyes darted across the table, having heard what Aelita said and seriously considering luncing and taking it by force.

"Aelita...? What are you doing?" Jeremie asked, somewhat angrily, Aelita smiled, closing her eyes as she smiled back at him, before looking over to Damon.

"Damon, do you understand why they want to keep the bandana?" Aelita asked politely.

"Something about materialising you, but you're already here so that reasons gone, hence me wanting my bandana back."

"Well, You're right that I am materialised, but if the supercomputer is shut down, I get shutdown, they want to hold onto it because they think it might be able to break my link and set me free." Aelita replied, her eyes showing her kind sincerity.

"Would have been nicer if someone had filled me in on that earlier. I still don't see how it's my problem." Damon replied curtly.

"You don't mean that, I know you don't," Aelita replied, smiling as she held up the cloth, Damon jumping from his seat as he lunged for it, only to have it snatched out of his view by Aelita, " I also know that you'd be willing to let us analyse your bandana as long as you get to hold onto it while we do."

"You seem to think you know an awful lot of stuff." Damon grumbled, standing tall over Aelitas seated form, his shadow casting over her entire body as he stared straight down at her. Remaining unbroken, Aelitas smile beamed back up at him with a nod and giggle.

"I do, it's one of those perks of having lived in a big computer." she replied happily, a moment of silence passed, Aelitas smiling face never breaking the gaze with Damons, the larger boy sighed, snapping his fingers and flicking his fingers toward the bandana, indicating he wanted it back.

"Fine, you can use it, with me present, until she's free, you don't get to hold onto it, you don't get to keep it overnight or any junk like that, it stays with me at all times, and if you want to analyse it, I have to be there to supervise. Now give it back. " Damon grumbled, snatching the Bandana and tying it securely around his elbow, finishing it with tying a knot twice around it to make it was extra secure.Aelita did little more then give a thumbs up to Jeremie and follow up with a happy little laugh as Damon sat back down at the table, folding his arms, "Okay, so lets this over and done with, what do we know so far and what theories to we have on fixing this."

The table had become somewhat shaken at Damons sudden change in attitude after having regained his possession, but they chose to shrug it off as they counted off what they knew at the time;

"To begin with, Aelita can materialise but if the supercomputer goes, she goes, we need to find a way to sever the link to Lyoko without killling her, allowing her to be free and us to shut down the computer and live our lives normally." Yumi began,

"Also, theres this evil program called Xana, who attacks us in the real world by activating towers," Odd added

"Like the one you got healed in last night." Aelita added,

"Right," Odd replied, "We stop the attacks by having Aelita get into the tower and deactivate it, saving the day, so we're kinda like superheroes, only without the capes!"

"Yeah..instead of capes you get cat ears." Ulrich smirked, "A xana attack can come in any shape or form, he can possess people, systems, anything he wants, so if we tell you a tower is activated, watch your back because you don't know who or what is coming after you, it could be anything from a rat to a-"

"Walking suit of samurai armour?" Odd inerjected, grinning wildly,

"Now what we know about you is scarce, you can apparently connect to Lyoko without needing to be virtualised, from what Aelita has told us, you're completely destructible in Lyoko, so we can assume that if you die there, you die for good. The bandana is the real enigma here, it gives you powers inside lyoko, though out here it's just a piece of tra-er..cloth." Jeremie stated, taking over, changing his tone as he saw Damons glare, we need to scan it, though I don't know if Aelita and I together can crack it."

"Right, well, lets split, it's time for Gym, thats the last class for today, I'll meet you at the entrance to the cafeteria and we can go scan it or whatever." Damon concluded, rising and putting his tray away as he turned to leave, "Don't be late." he added as he left, leaving the group still sitting around the table.

"If I'd known it would be that easy, I would've just given to him in the first place..." Yumi mutterred, still slightly shocked at Damons sudden willingness to help, "How did you know that would work Aelita? He could've just taken it by force."

Aelita smiled, nodding a little, "Yeah, he could have, but I feel like I've met him before, he doesn't hurt innocent people, besides, I got to know him a little bit last night...he protected me, even after he got the bandana back, he wasn't going to lay a finger on me from the beginning."

"Come on Odd, lets get going to Gym before Jim tears us apart on sight." Ulrich added before walking off,

"But I haven't had my second helping yet..." Odd groaned before following. A short run to the gymnasium and a clothing change, they were ready and waiting, lined up in front of Jim,doing his usual patrol back and forth across his imaginary troop of soliders. Unaware of Jims usual practices, Damon stood beside Ulrich and Odd, speaking out of turn as Jim delivered his daily speech;

"What took you two so long? Run headfirst into each other again?", he smirked as Ulrich narrowed his eyes, Odd ready and waiting with one of his witty comebacks.

"Well, it was something like that, see, we saw a picture of you somewhere, we werent prepared for it and it scared the heck out of us, we were halfway back to the dorms before we realised your face is much scarier in real life then a picture, so- we came back." he chuckled, Damon laughing along with him.

"To be the best you can be you need to have a firm understanding and basis of the three 'R's', yes thats right, the three R's. Thats Reading, Writing, and Responsibility," Jim rattled off, before noticing the laughing students, singling out Damon for being hte tallest, he marched over to them, "YOKEL! Something funny about the three R's?" he asked angrily, as Damons laughing face suddenly turned to an exasperated and tired one, as he shook his head, standing straight and staring forward. "Thats what I thought, in any case, since you disrupted my lesson, you can run for a lap around the gynmasium, now GO." Jim commanded.

"Call me Yokel...one more time..." Damon scowled, as he dashed around the gynmasium, keeping close to the walls as he jogged around the interior of the gym, getting back into line.

"Now that Mr comedian has finished, I want to examine the levels of focus, concentration and skill you've accumulated during my lessons, I'm pairing you off one at a time for a little one on one." Jim continued, picking up and tossing a basketball to Ulrich. "Stern, take our new arrival here and show him what Kadic's ace player is all about. Best of three baskets." Damon raised an eyebrow, still panting from his sprinted lap, but stepping forward.

"Check, " Ulrich said, passing the ball straight to Damons chest,

"Check, "Damon replied, catching the ball before it hit his chest and passing it back, Ulrich caught the ball in the same manner, passing the ball harder then before as it caught Damon in the stomach, winding him.

"Check?" Ulrich smirked, "Now we're even for that little headbutt comment.", he added, as Damon coughed, grabbing the ball and beginning to dribble.

"Is that right Mr Kadic ace?" Damon smiles, tilting her head ina cocky manner as he bounced the ball between his legs with each step forward, Ulrich lunged forward with a slap, knocking the ball out of Damons hand as he chased it, acquiring it and running to the basket for a lay-up.

"That IS right Yok-" Ulrich tried to taunt, but his lay up was blocked by Damons jump, clearly being taller gave him a clear advantage, and Damon knew how to use it. Both of them began chasing the ball, Damons longer reach allowing him to grasp and start dribbling, turnning his body to the side to create a barrier between Ulrich and the ball.

"You were about to call me Yokel weren't you?" Damon said, raising an eyebrow as he dashed past Ulrich, dropping a layup into the basket, "Thats one-nothing to me, honestly though Ulrich, you should be grateful I didn't hit you with the ball after that check, a forehead as big as yours is practically impossible to miss." Damon taunted, bounce passing the ball to Ulrich. This was the straw that broke the camels back as Ulrich's eyes opened in anger, he dashed with the ball, dribbling as fast as he could, gathering all of his strength into his legs Ulrich propelled himself from the ground as he slammed the ball into the hoop, hanging from the rim and swinging lightly amidst cheers and clapping from the rest of the group. Dropping to the ground, Ulrich kept his back to Damon, turning his head and smirking back at him. "Match point. Yokel." Ulrichs smirk was met with another from Damon as the match truly began. What followed for the next ten minutes was a semi professional level match, as Damon and Odd both used their advantages to try and score the final basket. Damons height and reach allowed him to cut off Ulrichs shots, but at the same time, Ulrichs higher level of experience and greater speed cut off Damons attack routes, the two were evenly matched, and there was no end in sight, the match coninued on until Jim had had enough, blowing his whistle, he called them back in. Both Ulrich and Damon were panting for air, hunched over and leaning on their knees for support.

"Good hustle out there...and uh...concentration, you three sure know your three R's..NEXT!" Jim called, sending the next two up for a match, Damon and Ulrich remained still as the class went on, still trying to catch their breath.

"Good..match..forehead..." Damon panted

"Yeah..you too...Yokel..." Was the reply from Ulrich, as the two touched fists and went back to join the rest of the somewhat uneventful class, the only entertaining part of it consisting of Herve trying to run through Odd, finding himself flat on his back while Odd remained upright. The whistle blew once more.

"Alright you guys, you're free for now, but don't let me catch any of you breaking curfew, be in bed, on time, and before lights out, is that clear!" he asked, to a resounding "YES SIR!" from his class, "Stern! Yokel! Good hustle today." Jim added as he turned to march off, barely taking three steps before something rather large and hard collided with his rear end, bouncing off and hitting the floor with several bumps. An orange basketball was now rolling away from the livid Jim, who was yelling for all the students who had already left and split up to come back and fess up. En route to the cafeteria, both Ulrich and Odd were still in hysterics.

"I can't believe- You hit Jim in the butt with a basketball!" Odd roared, leaning on Damons shoulder for support.

"Yeah that was pretty funny." Ulrich admitted, laughing, though obviously not as loud as Odd. Damon just shrugged as he continued on with them.

"I told him my name wasn't yokel...simple as that." Damon replied as he approached the cafeteria, Yumi, Jeremie and Aelita ready and waiting,

"Alright," Damon greeted, "Lets go do this then."

Authors note: After three years, yep, I'm back, didja miss me didja miss me huh huh huh? I bet you did, you did didn't you? D I'll be honest, I never lost my passion for this story, and no word of a lie, I cranked this out in one all nighter, I made it a littttle longer to make up for the delay, hopefully this summer we'll get some serious stuff out of the way, so keep it cool, if you're new, strap yourself in and enjoy, if old, I thank you for your continued support.

Keep it cool yo!

Triki


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